Benicio Del Toro Biography

Benicio's mother died when he was just nine years old, and his father moved the family from Puerto Rico to a farm in Pennsylvania.

Although Benicio expressed an interest in acting, his family urged him to become a lawyer, because they felt there was no future in acting.

Consequently, he decided to study business at the University of California in San Diego.

A drama class renewed the acting bug, and he dropped out and began studying with legendary acting teacher Stella Adler in Los Angeles, and at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York.

Pretending to his parents that he was taking courses in business, Benicio hid his new studies from his family for a while.

Benicio's big screen career got off to a slow start. His first role was in 'Big Top Pee-Wee', in 1988.

Things looked better, however, when he landed the role as a baddie in the James Bond film 'Licence to Kill'.

Surprising his co-stars, Del Toro was the youngest actor ever to portray a Bond villain, only 21 years old at the time.

1995 proved to be a very successful year for Benicio, as he gave a strong performance in 'Swimming with Sharks', before taking critics by storm as the mysterious gangster in 'The Usual Suspects'.

An Oscar-winning film, Benicio won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting actor for the role.

Eventually he went to work for director Steven Soderbergh in 'Traffic', a widespread hit and Oscar winning film.